Styx and Stones
by AvengerArch
Summary: Cronus springs a leak in the river Styx, but releases an evil more powerful than even himself.
1. Proluge

Styx and Stones

Written By AvengerArch

Prologue

A man walked through a dimly-lit tunnel. Stalactites hung from the ceiling. The walls were made of red stone. The small amount of light in the tunnel came from the rocks, mysteriously shining from within the red surface.

The man was clothed in a black suit. He had short black hair, a black goatee, and a scar that stretched

from his right eye to the corner of his mouth.

He walked up to a wall made of stalactites and stalagmites, growing so large that they completely barred the way.

Red mist swirled around the mans palm, then a sickle appeared in his hand. He swung it at the spires of rock, and they all shattered. The sickle vanished, and the man walked into a large chamber. There was the sound of rushing water above, and a large stone pillar stood in the center of the room. A dark cloaked figure stood beside the pillar. He had glowing green eyes that shone through the darkness that enveloped him.

"Don't do it, Cronus," the cloaked man said in a raspy voice.

"You can't stop me, Charon," the man named Cronus said.

"I know," Charon said, "I'm warning you. You will wake the great serpent. It dwells in the Styx."

"Your lying!" Cronus' eyes widened.

"No, i am not."

"I don't believe you," Cronus said. The sickle appeared in his hand again. He swung it and ripped a chunk out of the pillar. Immediately green water rushed out of the hole.

"So long," Cronus said. He waved his hand, and a black hole opened in space. Cronus walked through it, and it disappeared.

"The world, is doomed," Charon said. He disappeared into a cloud of blue smoke.


	2. 1Cronus's plot

Chapter 1

Cronus's Plot

A bright-red haired girl sat at a table, looking at a catalog. The catalog showed pictures of bows and arrows, spears, and crossbows. She sighed, looking longingly at a bow. It's price label said:

one-hundred-and-fifty dollars.

The door of the room she was in flew open. A purple-haired boy ran in. "Come on, Atlanta!" he said, panting excitedly. "The contest starts today!"

Atlanta was a light-skinned athletic girl. She was fifteen, dressed in a blue t-shirt and brown shorts, and she was fast. Really fast. She could run so fast that she could easily outrun any car. She was a distant descendant of Atalanta, in Greek Mythology the fastest runner in existence.

"What contest... Oh yeah! That contest!" She dropped the catalog and ran to the door. "Thanks for reminding me, Archie."

They walked out of the room and into a hall. From there they walked through another door and out of the building. The building was called "The Dormitory". It was where they slept.

Archie was seventeen. He wore a white t-shirt and blue shorts with yellow around the edges. He was descended from the mythological warrior Achilles. He wore a golden ankle brace on his right leg, because he had a bad ankle. He could never get sick. His real weakness was that he was scared of water and couldn't swim.

Today they were entering a skateboarding contest together. A team of two contestants who won would be the first ones on a new board park that was being built. Outside they saw five other teenagers sitting on the porch.

All seven of them had been taken out of there homes and moved to a special school, where they were

trained to fight Cronus, the power-hungry god of time. At the school they learned that Greek Mythology wasn't just a myth after all, but was reality. The Olympic gods, such as Hera and Artemis, trained them.

One of the other teenagers stood up. She had orange hair and was athletic. "Where are you two going?" she asked.

"We're going to that boarding contest." Atlanta said. "Think you could give us a lift, Theresa?"

"Sure, I guess."

Theresa wore a red sleeveless shirt and jeans. She was seventeen. She was descended from Theseus, the hero who was said to slay the minotaur, a beast half bull and half human. Theresa was skilled at martial arts and could sometimes see glimpses of the future and past.

Archie stepped out of Theresa's car, followed by Atlanta. They were standing in front of a closed off street. A sign sitting behind the ropes used to block off the street read:

Skateboarding Competition

JAN. 4th-8th

(Contestants are required

to bring their own skateboards)

"Well, here we are." Atlanta said. "Come on, Archie!" She and Archie took there skateboards out of the car, strapped on their helmets, and ran onto the closed-off street. "Thanks Theresa!" Atlanta yelled over her shoulder.

Atlanta and Archie found Theresa waiting for them with her car once they were finished with the competition.

"So," Archie said to Atlanta, "what was that catalog for?"

"Oh, you see," Atlanta sighed, "when I was taken from my home I left my hunting stuff there, and I can't find a decent deal on any bows these days."

Atlanta was a hunter. She grew up in the Northwest Territories, giving her a love for open wilderness. She enjoyed hunting with a bow-and-arrow instead of a gun.

"So," Theresa said, "did ya win?"

"No," Archie said, "nobody will win for four days. But we both won a new skateboard." He smiled proudly and showed Theresa a bright orange skateboard. It had black flames painted on it.

A boy with light brown hair and a yellow-purple striped shirt stood on the Dormitory porch. When he saw Theresa's car pull up he ran to the garage.

"Hi Jay!" Theresa called.

"Hi!" Jay said. Jay was seventeen and was descended from Jason of the Argonauts. He was the leader of the group that fought Cronus.

Jay and Theresa loved each other. And it wasn't secret. Everybody knew it. Another thing everyone, except Atlanta, knew was that Archie had a crush on Atlanta.

"Well," Jay began, "Hera wants to see us."

Archie, Atlanta, Theresa and Jay walked into a room in the secret wing of the school. The secret wing was where they were all trained. It was accessed by using a special key to get into a janitor's closet. Then when the light was switched on, the door swung shut and a blue portal appeared, which led

to the secret wing. Each of the seven teenagers had a key.

The room was Hera's office. Hera was the Greek queen of the gods. She was also the principal of Olympus high. They saw Hera sitting behind a desk on the back wall of the room. Hera was a tall goddess. She wore a long white tunic and Greek sandals.

Sitting in three of seven seats arranged in front of the desk were three more boys. The first one was Harry. He was a muscular man. He was sixteen years old, wore a green shirt and gray shorts, and had black hair. He was the strongest man in the world, aside from Heracles, his ancestor.

The second one was Odie. He had dark skin, wore a blue T-shirt and brown pants, and had brown puffy hair. He was descended from Odysseus and thus was extremely smart, but not very athletic. He was fifteen.

The third was Neil. He was descended from Narcissus and so was extremely vain and handsome. His advantage was he was inhumanly lucky. He was sixteen.

"So, what is it, Hera?" Jay asked, sitting down.

"Well," Hera said, beckoning for the others to sit down. They instantly obeyed. "Cronus has done something."

"I could've guessed that," Archie said.

"Cronus has sprung a leak in the river Styx. And the river Styx takes water from the ocean, and won't

stop leaking until the ocean is completely drained."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Archie exclaimed, staring at her in horror and disbelief.

_OK, how did you like the first chapter? Sorry it took so long to update(last time I describe the characters in one of my stories!) Please Review!_


	3. Chapter 2IT

Chapter 2

_IT_

Archie was terrified. Not only was he scared of any large amount of water, but even his ancestor Achilles feared the Styx. And there was a secret entrance to the Underworld in Olympus High. The Styx flowed in the Underworld, so New Olympia would probably be the first place to be flooded.

"This will be easy," Harry said, "we just have to get down there and clog it with a really big boulder."

"It's not that simple," Hera replied, her voice with a hint of annoyance.

"Duh," Theresa said, "It's not like it _ever_ is that simple."

"The chamber with the leak," Hera continued as if Theresa had never interrupted her, "is most likely completely flooded by now. And Charon said that when shades fall into the river Styx, they turn into some sort of monsters, so it would be best if you stayed out of the river, because by now there are plenty of shades who have fallen in. And besides..." she broke off, and then waited for a few seconds before saying, "no, never mind. Please, get Athena. I need to talk with her."

Atlanta got up and ran out of the room at an inhuman speed.

"The rest of you, Hermes has something to tell you."

They all left the room, heading towards Hermes' office.

Atlanta entered Hera's office. Athena followed close behind her.

"OK," Hera said, "now go to Hermes' office, he has something to tell you."

"OK..." Atlanta said. She left, but then when she was just outside Hera's office, her curiosity got the better of her. She hid behind the door and listened.

"No," Athena said, "it's too dangerous. We have to send them away. Not even they can defeat the Serpent. And what about the Shade Serpents? Besides, _it_ wants Archie."

"It does not want Archie, that's just rumor," Hera said, but she sounded uncertain.

"No, Hera, when I confronted it, I saw in its eyes, the cold ang-" she broke off and shouted in a rage,

"ATLANTA! I know you're still there! Leave at once!"

Atlanta immediately got up and ran.

Archie pulled open the door of Hermes' office. Hermes was sitting in a chair at his desk. When the door opened, Hermes spun around in his seat.

"Hello," Hermes said, "I have arranged for you to be put on a luxury cruiser! How do you like that? Sounds exciting doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Atlanta said, running in the door, "it sounds awesome!"

"Well too bad!" Hermes said, "you're actually getting a small yacht."

"I _hate_ you!" Atlanta said.

"Well, what did she tell you?" Hermes asked, "Hera won't tell me a thing!"

"Hmmm..." Jay said, "she just told us about monsters that shades turn into, but she wasn't letting on exactly what kind of monsters."

"I over heard something about Shade Serpents..." Atlanta offered.

"Oh, yeah, Shade Serpents, nasty things. Best to stay away from them." Hermes said calmly.

"When did you 'over hear' this?" Archie asked.

"Um... Well... You see..." She couldn't think of an excuse, so she told the truth. "I was spying on Athena and Hera." She expected a scolding, but Archie just said:

"Hear anything else interesting?"

"Athena said something about 'the serpent', said she confronted it, and said not even they could defeat

it. Oh yeah, she also..." she broke off. She was going to mention the part about _it_, what ever that is, wanting Archie. But she didn't want to scare Archie.

Athena came in at that moment. "Your boat is ready," she said, "follow me." Then she grabbed Archie and said, "be careful."

"Why?" Archie looked surprised.

"Because, _IT _is alive. And _IT _wants you."

_Sorry, short chapter! Well, I hope ya like it! Please review!_


	4. 3 Shade Serpents

Chapter 3

Shade Serpents

_Warning: There is violence and some blood in this chapter._

_Notice: I made up 'Shade Serpents", they are not really in Greek Mythology._

Athena stared into Archie's eyes, then let go of him. He quickly ran out of the room after his friends.

His mind was filled with thoughts: _Great, The Styx is already overflowing, and now there are these 'Shade Serpent' things, and this _it _thing wants me?_

He caught up with his friends, not so eager to go to the yacht as his friends were. Atlanta, however, seemed pretty happy.

"It's been awhile since we've seen any good action!" she exclaimed. She looked at her friends' weary faces and said, "OK, maybe it's only three days, but still, Action is good right?" Seeing that still nobody agreed with her, she fell back to where Archie was. "C'mon, Archie, this'll be fun, right?"

"Maybe if there wasn't so much water," he replied, "and if this it thing wasn't after me."

_How did he know?_ Atlanta asked in her mind. Then it hit her, _Athena! She must of told him!_ "Don't worry," she said, "everything will be fine." But she couldn't even convince herself of that.

An hour later, the seven young heroes were all on a small yacht, or so Hermes called it. It was actually pretty big, but being a god, Hermes must have been used to something much bigger.

"OK," Jay said, "We still don't know much about these shade serpent things."

"Then why don't I give you an example," Cronus's voice came from behind them.

"Cronus!" Jay shouted, swinging around. The other six turned to face Cronus.

Cronus was holding a black-cloaked figure-a shade no doubt-by its neck over the edge of the boat. The shade was wailing and screaming, and when the seven heroes looked over the side of the boat, they saw green water already a foot high in the streets of New Olympia.

Cronus dropped the shade and everybody watched it fall. It hit the water and fell under. Blood pooled where it had fallen in, and there was a terrible sucking noise. Then out of the water came the head of a large red serpent.

The serpent's scales shimmered in the sun, and its circular mouth was gaping wide.

"So long," Cronus said. He opened a portal and left.

The serpent stared up at them with gleaming yellow eyes. Then suddenly it propelled itself out of the water using its tail like a spring. It landed on the boat, and they saw that the serpent was fifteen feet long. It turned to the seven teenagers and sprang towards them. But Jay quickly pulled out his sword and threw it at the serpent.

A red scale fell to the ground and blood dripped out of the cut the sword had made. The sword slipped out of the serpent, and it was stained with blood.

The serpent roared as it slowly deteriorated into purple mist, and the mist turned into a purple ball, which slowly became a shining crystal.

Athena came out of her cabin at that moment. "What's going on," she demanded. "What was-" she stopped when she saw the blood on the floor.

"Well," Jay said, picking up the crystal, "we met a shade serpent." He then gestured toward the crystal in his hand and asked, "what is this thing? It came out of the serpent when we killed it. Well, actually, the serpent turned into this."

Athena eyed the crystal and said matter-of-factly, "that would be its soul crystal. Give it to me and I will keep it. Later it will be transformed back to a shade."

Jay handed the crystal to Athena. Athena walked back to her cabin and stopped when she reached the door.

She called back: "This will just be a warm-up compared to _IT_." She then opened the door, went inside, and closed it.

Cronus stood inside the school near Persephone's secret entrance to the Underworld. He raised his hand and green water began to pour out. He was already knee-high in water, but now the water was up to his neck. He opened a portal and went through it.

Seconds later the entire school exploded in a burst of water. The burst of water washed over New Olympia. Every human in the city was killed and turned into a shade. And every shade...

Archie watched from the boat as every living person became a serpent. Then he saw something that caught his attention. The last of a spiked green tail was disappearing under the waves. And the tail was huge.

Cronus, watching from atop the dry roof of a tall building, saw the same thing. "No, that can't be real," he said. But as he watched the shadow of a large form swim through the water, a look of horror came onto his face. "So Charon told the truth." His voice was timid.

"Yes, I did," A rasping voice said. Cronus spun around to see Charon standing there. Charon said slowly, "_IT_ has awoken. _IT_ is here."


	5. 4 Prophecy of Time

_OK, this chapter is made mainly to clear things up, so don't expect much action, sorry. Luckily, you finally get to know who or what _'it' _is. And I promise I'll make more action next chapter._

_P.S.: I made up the prophecy of time, so don't go looking for it in any Mythology books. It won't be there(unless I'm missing something)._

Chapter 4

Prophecy of Time

Cronus looked at the water, then turned back to Charon.

"It doesn't matter," Cronus said, "I have many secret hideouts, one of which is located high on a mountain. I can stay there until the heroes are dead, which will be long before the water even touches the foot of the mountain. Then I simply send the water back, and it will go with the water."

"You know it will not be that easy, Cronus," Charon said.

Cronus did know this, but didn't want to let his fear show. He summoned a scythe and walked towards Charon.

"I have a question for you, Charon," he said, brandishing his deadly weapon.

"Don't tell me... It's about the prophecy, isn't it?" Charon took a step back.

"Yes, tell me where it is."

"Prophecies are spoken, Cronus."

"You know as well as I do that there is a written version of the prophesy of time," Cronus sounded annoyed.

"I do not know what you are talking about!" Charon lied.

"Then I guess I wont be needing you anymore," Cronus said menacingly. He raised his scythe and red mist began to swirl around it. A bolt of red lightning flew out of the scythe and, with an electric-zapping sound, it hit Charon. Charon groaned and fell to the ground.

"Just be glad you're immortal, Charon," Cronus said. He opened a portal and walked through it, leaving Charon staggering around as if his legs were made of rubber.

Athena sat on her cabin's bed. She sighed and swatted a tiny spider crawling along the wall. She always had hated spiders, no matter how harmless. Mostly because of Arachne.

She heard a knock on her door and stood up. She walked to the door and opened it. Archie stood there, worry written on his face.

"Athena, I need to talk to you about something," he said.

"What about?" Athena asked.

"About this _it_ thing," Archie answered. "I think it's about time you told me more about it."

"Well, let's start with its name. Magno Draco. That's Latin for 'The Great Serpent'."

"Latin?" Archie asked, "Isn't that from Rome? Why doesn't it have a Greek name?"

"Because," Athena replied, "the prophecy of time was made in Rome."

"The prophecy what!" Archie asked, a look of confusion overtaking the worry on his face.

"Come into my cabin," Athena sighed.

"The Prophecy of time was predicted by a great Oracle, and was so important that it was written down. Many copies of it were destroyed in a fire, I have the only surviving copy." Athena was back sitting on her bed, while Archie sat on a comfortable wooden chair a few feet in front of Athena.

"And I'm sure Cronus would like to get his hands on it," Athena continued. She opened a drawer in her dresser and pulled out a scroll of yellow parchment. "Here it is. The prophecy of time. I'm sure you'd like to know why it's named that."

Archie nodded, and so Athena continued.

"It was made so it told the present, the near future, and the distant future, A.K.A. right now."

"O.K., that makes some sense," Archie said.

"Good," Athena said, "now, it said that a serpent much greater than any seen before was sleeping in a cave under the Styx. That was the present." She looked at Archie to make sure he understood. When he nodded, she continued: "Then it said that the slayer of Pales would defeat it, but not kill it, just send it sinking to the bottom. The slayer of Pales is _me_. That was the near future. Then the-"

"Wait a second," Archie interrupted, "who is Pales?"

"Um..." Athena seemed embarrassed, "No one important."

Archie shrugged, pretending to not care, but inside he really wanted to find out.

"Anyway," Athena said, "the distant future was that the serpent would awaken once again. And would stop at nothing to get a certain teenager of invincible descent."

"Me?" Archie asked timidly.

"Yes, you. And it also said that nobody, not even the one who had awakened it, would be safe. Cronus awakened it."

"Why does it want me so much?"

"Because. One day, it had been swimming through the Styx when it saw Thetis dunking Achilles in the Styx. It shot up from the depths to claim its victim, but was too late. So it got so angry that it decided to get revenge on one of his descendants, a special one with powers. And it can recognize you easily."

"O.K.," Archie said, shaking from fear, "this could be bad."

Archie heard a scream, a loud crash, and Jay yelling out orders. He looked out the door, and experienced terror as he had never felt before.

_Well, there you go. Sorry it took so long. And don't worry, if you don't already know, you'll know who Pales (pronounced pal-ase) is in the next chapter. I wonder if anyone does know (other than me!)..._


	6. 5 Pales

Chapter 6

Pales

Archie stood idly for a few moments, then reached for his whip which he always kept in his pocket.

Jay saw him and yelled, "come on, Archie!"

"What is that thing?" Archie asked.

Raising out of the water was the head of something... something big. It resembled the shade serpent, but it was at least five times as big and was black. It had a spiky spine running along its back that stretched all the from its neck down to the tip of its tail, which stuck out of the water. And it looked all to ready to use its massive fangs.

As it turned its head, its cold blue eyes caught sight of Archie. It let out a roar, which actually sounded more like a wailing scream. It rose even higher out of the water, and slipped effortlessly onto the boat.

"I think," Jay said, answering Archie's question, "that is people keep calling it."

"What was that scream about?" Archie inquired.

"It grabbed Neil," Jay sighed, "and is holding him captive."

"Well," Atlanta said, aiming her laser crossbow, "not exactly unlike are other adventures."

"And I thought he was lucky," Archie said, "and if he's so lucky, why does _he_ always get captured?"

Sure enough, Archie could see Neil stuck in a tight coil the serpent had made, quite like that of a boa constrictor.

"Help!" he yelled, "This... _Thing_... is **SLIMY**!"

The serpent suddenly dropped Neil and slithered toward Archie. It let out a hiss, but Archie could hear something inside the hiss:

"tandem occuramus! saepe cupio pugnere vos! accede! pugnabamus!"

"Great," Archie murmured, "an evil snake that speaks Latin." Though he would never admit it to his friends, he enjoyed studying Latin and knew a decent amount. He translated the words in his mind:

"_At last... we meet... often I desire... to fight..._ what was that next word? vos... vos means you... so... _often I desire to fight you_... _approach_... we will _fight_... A serpent that wanted to duel!"

"cur facis non veni huc?"the serpent hissed.

Archie translated that one more easily: "why do you not come here?"

Archie took a step forward. The serpent watched him. He took a couple more steps. But at that moment, Atlanta fired a laser-bolt at the serpent.

"cur facis oppugna me?" it hissed.

"What?" Atlanta was obviously very confused.

"It asked why your attacking it."

"Um, because your evil?" Atlanta said.

"It wants to duel me," Archie said, "everyone else, stay back."

Archie jumped onto the serpent and slashed it with his whip, leaving a long, deep gash. It rolled over with such speed that Archie had no time to react. He was crushed under its body, and when it raised its body off of him, he had dropped his whip. He groaned and sat up, but was knocked down again by a whip of the serpents tail, which also sent his whip flying across the deck.

"Archie!" Atlanta yelled. She took a step forwards, but Odie stopped her with his arm.

"Lesson one about ancient Rome: don't interfere with duels."

Reluctantly Atlanta sat down, thinking only a miracle could save Archie now. And a miracle came, but not in the form she had expected.

A twelve year old girl came out of nowhere and landed on the serpent and stabbing it with a spear she was carrying.

The serpent howled and fell off the side of the boat, and the girl was barely able to jump off in time. She turned to Athena, who had been watching from her cabin door.

"Hello, Athena. You're a lot taller then you were before."

"Pales?" Athena asked.

"Yes, who else would I be? Arachne, perhaps? Ariadne? Medusa? Atropos? Persephone? Deme-"

"I get the picture." Athena said.

"So why are you so much taller now?" Pales asked.

"I'm four-thousand years old now," Athena said.

"Oh well," Pales said, "we can still duel and have adventures. I have my spear ready." She waved her spear in the air.

"No," Athena said, "I decided to stop playing those games after a certain... unfortunate event."

"What event-oh! That! Don't worry, it won't happen again." Pales said innocently.

"Somebody please explain what's going on," Archie said.

"This is Pales. About four thousand years ago, me, my best friend, Pales, and a few other mortal girls

played games with real spears. We usually didn't get hurt, but one day in a duel I accidentally... um..."

"Killed me." Pales finished for her. "But now Persephone decided to send me back up to fight the serpent."

The serpent stuck its head out of the water, but Pales calmly turned and threw her spear at it. She pulled it back out of the writhing monster with a single tug. The serpent turned and swam away.

"curre! curre stalte draco! Curre!" Pales yelled after it, laughing.

"What the heck did she just say?" Atlanta asked.

"Well, she was telling it to run," Archie said slowly, "and she also called it 'stupid'."

"How did you know that?" Atlanta asked suspiciously.

"Um... well... I..." Archie looked embarrassed, "no reason, really."

Atlanta stared into his eyes in such an accusing way that he finally said: "alright, I study Latin."

"What's so bad about telling me that?" Atlanta asked.

"Um... I thought you'd think I was a dork."

"I already think you're a dork." Atlanta laughed.

Archie sighed and walked away.

"Hello?" Pales said, "we've got a job to do here."

"We do," Atlanta said, "but you've got nothing to do with it, so just go, please."

"Well," Pales said, a hurt look on her face, "I never would of thought heroes were so rude. I already told you, Persephone sent me."

"She could of sent someone a bit more respectful," Archie said, "me and it were in a duel, and then you barged in and wrecked it."

"If I hadn't 'barged in and wrecked it', you would have been dead right now." Pales snapped.

"Pales has a point," Jay said.

"What!" Archie said.

"No," Jay said, "I don't mean about you being dead, I mean about us having a job to do." Though secretly he agreed with Pales about the first part too.

Atlanta looked over the edge of the boat and saw three red blurs under the water.

"We have company," she warned.

Athena looked up from the 'Prophecy of Time', which she had been reading.

"Actually," she said gravely, "it's not them you need to worry about."

"It's not," Atlanta asked.

"No. It's her." Athena pointed at Pales.

Pales turned to face her. "I was wondering how long it would take you to figure that thing out." Then she drew her spear and turned to face Archie."You chose the wrong side, Archie."


	7. 6 The End

Chapter 7

The End

Disclaimer: (sorry I've been forgetting this lately) Jay, Theresa, other characters, and the Class of the Titans theme belongs to Brad Goodchild and Studio B productions. If you thought I invented Class of the Titans, then I'll take that as a compliment. Shade Serpents and Magno Draco belong to the left side of my brain(that's the side of your brain that makes stuff up). The yacht belongs to some boat company,

Athena and Pales belong to the ancient Greeks, Brad Goodchild belongs to his parents, and Studio B productions belongs to the CEO of Studio B productions.

Archie stepped back, thoughts swirling through his mind. A twelve-year-old girl had more cause for worry than the serpents? But, she had sent the Magno Draco back to where it came from.

"Wait," he said thoughtfully, "she helped us defeat the big serpent, why would she do that if she was evil?"

"Because the serpent is good, it's Pales who is evil." Athena informed him.

Pales threw her spear at Archie, and it stuck strait through his left shoulder. Archie fell down onto the white metal the ship was made out of. But then, miraculously, he stood back up, yanked the spear out, and dropped it over the edge of the ship.

The spear then impaled a shade serpent, sending it sinking to the bottom of the ocean, leaving only a pool of blood and a bobbing soul crystal. Odie ran to the edge and used a grappling-hook like device to pick up the crystal from the water.

"What?" Pales stared at Archie, who was staggering around in pain. "Why didn't that kill you?" Then she seemed to be remembering something. "Oh yeah, your invincible. But everyone has a weakness." She pointed to his ankle brace. "Come on, take it off or the pain will get worse." She drew a second spear from a long quiver-like bag on her back.

"I don't give up that easily," Archie said, trying to ignore the pain.

"I said take it off," Pales said, putting the tip of her spear to Atlanta's neck.

"Atlanta!" Archie said. He looked down at his ankle brace, and, to the horror of the rest of the team, began to take it off.

"Don't!" Atlanta pleaded, but it did no good.

Archie finished taking it off, and said: "Atlanta, there's one last thing I want to say to you."

"What?" she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Duck!" Archie yelled, throwing his ankle brace straight at her. She did duck, and the ankle brace hit Pales right in the forehead. She fell down on her back, unconcios.

"Well," Athena said, when Pales had been locked in a large storage box, and everyone was sitting around a table on the yacht. "I misread the prophesy, and it turns out that the Magno Draco just wanted to test it's strength against a worthy opponent. Pales wasn't sent by Persephone, she was sent by Cronus, because he knew the serpent would try to destroy him. He wanted the prophesy because it told how the serpent could be defeated. And, the good news is, the water is going away, because Hades found a way to repair the leak and drain the water. Plus we were able to resurrect everyone who was killed. Now you can return to your normal lives."

When they were getting off the boat onto dry land, Atlanta said to Archie: "I know this has been hard for you, with all this water and everything. I'm sorry you had to go through this."

"Actually," Archie said, "because of this experience, I'm no longer scared of water."

No one believed this at first, but when he went in the water when they went to the beach, they started

to believe him.

And Atlanta agreed to give him private swimming lessons, so he wouldn't embarrass himself by going into a preschool course.

After a while, Odie invented a device that jammed Cronus's portals, and they captured Cronus. Everything was back to how it had been before Hermes swooped down and picked them up with griffins, except now they knew each other. And Theresa bought a mansion in New Olympia, and they all moved in there.

The

End


End file.
